Feature Stories

FlyGirl Puts Ultimate Travel Pillow to the Test

I’ve never tried to hide my dislike for travel pillows.

Mom on Road Trip: Katie, you should use this travel pillow.
Me: No way.

While some people can’t leave the house without one, I have, over the years, developed a great disdain for this “convenience.” After all, what could be MORE relaxing than being in a furry headlock? Most travel pillows make me feel more strangled than sleepy. So, much to the chagrin of my mother, I usually go without.

Granted, with my transportation narcolepsy, which often results in violent head-bobbing, I have awoken from several in-flight naps with, literally, a huge pain in the neck.

I can’t come to terms with the traditional horseshoe-shaped collar-style travel pillow. I’m willing to accept the hypothesis that I might just have a misshapen head, or a scarily thick neck. But I also think it might be the pillow itself.

So, when Travel Rest came out with its new “Ultimate Travel Pillow,” I was skeptical. Fortunately, I was also curious. If this is as “ultimate” as Ultimate Fighting, or Ultimate Frisbee, then I wanna check this out. And this week, on a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, I gave the Travel Rest a fair shot.

The Travel Rest was invented by John Mittelstadt, a frequent traveler who realized that he wanted a travel pillow that he could lean into. Rather than keeping his head upright, he wanted something that would support his body.

The design of the Travel Rest is decidedly different from any travel pillow I’ve seen. Rather than the traditional horseshoe or bar for behind your neck, once inflated, the Travel Rest resembles some sort of medieval horn for announcing a joust. It has a long, cylindrical section that curves into a wider section for behind your head. The interesting part is that the long end goes across your body, like a seatbelt; this provided a comfortable place to rest my arms.

The Travel Rest attaches to your seat behind your head at the top, and to your seatbelt at the bottom. Alternatively, it can wrap around your body, messenger-bag-style. I found this option the most comfortable (and least disturbing to those around me). In either orientation, the Travel Rest is adjustable, so that it can fit around any traveler’s body, from small children to large adults.

The great news is that the Travel Rest is inflatable, which makes it extremely portable and easy to shove into your carry-on until you’re ready to use it. The bad news is that it’s inflatable, so I was more than slightly embarrassed to blow it up while sitting in the middle seat.

It took some adjusting to get the pillow situated just so, but once I found that sweet spot, (huzzah!) it was really comfortable! As evidenced by the embarrassing photo accompanying this article…I fell asleep! For a while! On the pillow! It really was better than the pillows of yore, and it took very little effort to inflate and deflate (physically…getting past my ego was more difficult.)

At the end of my most-enjoyable nap, I rolled up the Travel Rest and placed it back in my bag. Just to add to its handiness, you can also use the snaps at the bottom to roll it up and attach it to your suitcase handle for quicker access.

The verdict? I’m impressed. If you’re the type of person who is unfazed by pulling out and snuggling up to what appears to be a fuzzy blow-up putter, then this is the travel pillow for you. Sure, it’s unconventional, but it’s easy, it’s comfy, and it’ll help you sleep well enough that you’ll never notice the quizzical stares from your neighbors.

The Travel Rest is available for $26.95 plus shipping. Visit www.travelrest.net to get yours.